


Off the Rack

by Ysabetwordsmith



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Supernatural, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Demons, Derogatory Language, Dysfunctional Family, Familial Abuse, Family Drama, Family Feels, Fatherhood, Feels, Gen, Hell, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Implied/Referenced Torture, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Psychological Torture, Revenge, Role Reversal, Temptation, Torture, Torturer Dean, Verbal Abuse, Vulgar Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2014-02-21
Packaged: 2018-01-13 06:29:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1216072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ysabetwordsmith/pseuds/Ysabetwordsmith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dysfunctional family dynamics are a weak spot for Dean Winchester.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Off the Rack

**Author's Note:**

> I marked this story "choose not to warn" because the standard warnings don't quite fit, yet this is far from what I'd call "safe" reading. The violence here is all implied, before or after this vignette, or else is psychological; but consider it implied graphic violence. Consider your tastes and mindstate before reading further.

Dean Winchester woke to find his body healed and whole, every wound erased as if it had never been. No matter how many times Alastair cut him apart, it never lasted and never released him into death, because he was already dead. Hell was waking up completely intact, still fastened to the rack, waiting for it all to happen again. Soon Alastair would appear with his offer. Dean lay still in his perfect body.

He _hated_ this part.

Alastair arrived, not in a puff of smoke, just blinking into existence. He looked like an ordinary man, a little soft around the middle, his short hair going grey. Only the eyes gave him away, luminous and hungry as those of a lion.

With him Alastair brought another damned soul, as he always did. The man was thin and sharp-eyed, his dark hair neatly trimmed. He wore an expensive suit but had the hands of a mechanic.

Dean wondered over the mismatch -- was Alastair trying to play him? But no, the damned soul seemed entirely comfortable with the contradictory aspects.

"Dean, it's so nice to see you again," Alastair said warmly. He always started on that bright note that made Dean's teeth itch before the demon knocked them out again. "I've brought you a new playmate! I know, I know, you don't trust me to set you up on blind dates. You haven't liked a single person I've introduced you to in thirty years. Guess you don't go for pussies."

Dean rolled his eyes and waited for Alastair to shut his pie hole. Another day, another damned soul who frankly hadn't done anything deserving of a trip to hell. Blah blah motherfucking blah.

"So this time, I thought I'd try something new," Alastair said, rubbing his hands together. "This is Howard Stark. He's an engineer, a real brain -- oh, and a father too. I always forget that part, but then so does Howard. He's not like _your_ father, Dean, he's really no good at it. I have to hand it to John Winchester, he knew how to man up. Howard, well, not so much. Ignored his son all the time. Drank a lot. Wouldn't even let his kid work on the _car_ with him. I mean, what kind of father does that to his son?"

"Go fuck yourself, you self-important son of a bitch," Howard said to Alastair. "I survived HYDRA. I survived inventing the goddamned nuclear bomb. You think I give a shit what you say? You're pond scum. You don't have an original thought in your fat head."

"You see what I have to deal with?" Alastair said, turning to Dean. "You see what little Tony had to deal with? Poor Tony. He's a mess. All the money in the world, but you know what they say -- can't buy happiness. Drinks too much, it's a thing. Took a load of shrapnel from his own bomb. He actually survived that, kid's got grit, I'll give him that. But now he's dying of, let's say, side effects of that survival and it's just sad. He's only got two, maybe three friends if we're counting generously and they're all dumping him because he's such a dick. So no friends, no brother. Just Tony, all alone in the world."

"Wow, Howard, sounds like you did a bang-up job there. Way to give parenting the old college try. Little tip from a guy who's been around the block? Next time, wear a rubber," Dean said. He hadn't meant to say anything, but Howard just got under his skin somehow.

Oh, how Dean wanted to wipe that mocking look off his face. How could anyone _be_ so indifferent? Dean would show this smug bastard what's what. He _would_.

Dean breathed, feeling his body strong and hale around him.

"Give me the knife," he said.

Alastair smiled, and gave him the knife --

\-- hilt first.

**Author's Note:**

> [ _Supernatural_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural_\(U.S._TV_series\)) shows Dean's death in Season 3, followed by his resurrection in Season 4. Although canon later specifies that Dean eventually gave in to Alastair's efforts to make him torture someone else, it doesn't specify the exact circumstances. I got to wondering what would make Dean change his mind after decades of subjective time holding out. Sheer pain just doesn't seem to break him, based on his response to injuries and attempts at torture elsewhere in the series. He'd also resist harming an innocent victim, or even just a random damnedsoul. So that leaves [temptation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temptation) ...
> 
> [ _Iron Man 1_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man_\(2008_film\)) _,_[ _Iron Man 2_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man_2) _,_ and [_The Avengers_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers_\(2012_film\)) all touch on various aspects of Howard Stark's craptastic parenting and its impact on Tony. I thought if anything was ever going to tempt Dean into picking up the knife, a crappy father would be it. All Alastair had to do was finally present him with the right victim.
> 
> And of course, I just figured it would be gratifying to have Howard roast in hell.


End file.
